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Hi! My name is Margot. My blog is about the things I love to do. That could be what I'm reading, places we visit, my family, food, or whatever else is happening. I hope you'll stay and visit a while.
Contact me by email: joyfullyretired (at) gmail (dot) com.

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A Favorite Quote

"I read so I can live more than one life in more than one place." - Anne Tyler

Archives

Back in the 1970’s my mother-in-law, Rena, introduced the family to a jam she made with her own home-grown peaches and red raspberries. Rena was well known as a superb cook, but this new jam took her to the level of gourmet. Everyone who tasted it, raved about it. Rena, my mother, and I have […]

Author: Lucy Knisley Publisher: First Second (April 2013) Genre: Graphic Novel/Food Source: Public Library One of the first graphic novels I read was Lucy Knisley’s French Milk. It was so charming that it made me want to dabble more in this genre. Lucy Knisley has now relesed another novel that is sure to convert […]

Chili Nation caught my eye as I was perusing the food-book shelves at my local library. Chili is one of my husband’s favorite dishes and I’m always open to trying a new chili recipe. (Not that he is open to eating new recipes but, more about that later.) I took the book home, sure that […]

Last week I finished reading Heather Lende’s If You Lived Here I’d Know Your Name. I so thoroughly enjoyed the book and spending time in Heather’s world in small-town Alaska. I felt in sync with this woman in many of her beliefs and habits. For one, she and I are in complete agreement in our […]

My two granddaughters live over 600 miles away. I miss them a lot but I try to make the best of the times when we are together. I especially like the times when I can have one-on-ones with each one of the girls. Recently we were all together in Portland over the holidays. A good […]

I don’t know about your crowd, but the party food around here has changed in the last few years. Three organizations I belong to have asked each member to bring an appetizer. I’m okay with that. I think it makes for a fun party – everyone walks around taking just a bite of this and […]

At the risk of what you might think about the health of my food choices, I haven’t told you that, while traveling on the road, I like to stop at McDonald’s for breakfast. To be specific, I stop for their Egg McMuffin. I really like those little sandwiches. [To be fair, I should say that […]

I read Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls with my book club last month. We all loved the main character, Lily. I believe she was beloved by her family because they carried the stories of her life down through the generations. Her granddaughter, the author, fictionalized Lily’s life in this book. Lily and her husband managed […]

When it comes to lunch, I’ve always been a sandwich person. Sandwiches are quick to make and easy to tote. And, while at work, they can be eaten in a snap. But for me now, things are different. I now have the luxury of eating lunch slowly and I’ve been told to cut back on […]

Here in the northern hemisphere, this is the perfect time to relish the taste of asparagus. This is the only time of the year when we know it’s fresh. When asparagus is for sale in the summer, fall or winter, I know it took a lot of gasoline to get it to me. So, I […]